The Nature of God Part 2: Unity and Trinity

Genesis 1:1-2 The Nature of God: Unity and Trinity Introduction: We have been considering the essence and attributes of God for the last few weeks and before we leave this topic we must certainly look at the doctrine of the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity is far beyond human ability to ever fully comprehend. However, it is central to understanding the nature of God and the central events in the history of salvation, in which God is seen acting as, a tri-personal team. Christianity as we will see stands or falls with the doctrine of the Trinity. 1. The Unity of God. a. It’s very important for us to understand that although the God of the Bible is Trinitarian in his nature he is also One with himself. b. The unity of God means that there is one God (Monotheism) and that the divine nature is undivided and indivisible. c. That there is One God (Monotheism) is the great truth of the Old Testament. i. Deut 4:35;39 “To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him.” and “know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.” ii. Isaiah 45:5 “I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God.” d. Nothing changes when we come to the New Testament; we find this same teaching there. The N.T. Teaches Monotheism as well. i. John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” ii. 1 Tim 2:5 “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” e. While Christians affirm the Trinity we also affirm the Unity of God. i. The divine nature is undivided and indivisible. ii. Deut 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” 1. If we were to read this in the original it would say something like “Listen Israel,Yaweh our Elohim (plural) is one (a unit).” 2. Echad vs. Yachid f. “The doctrine of the divine unity means not only that there is but one God; it means also that God is simple, un-complex, one with himself. The harmony of His being is the result not of a perfect balance of parts but of the absence of parts. Between His attributes no contradiction can exist. He need not suspend one to exercise another, for in Him all His attributes are one. All of God does all that God does; he does not divide Himself to perform a work, but works in the total unity of His being” - Tozer g. The unity of God allows for the existence of personal distinctions in the Divine nature, while at the same time recognizing that the Divine nature is numerically and eternally one. h. Many sects and cults have broken with the historical Christian faith at this point by failing to accept the doctrine of the three persons but one essence. 2. Misconceptions about the Trinity. a. Modalism or sabellianism - one God manifesting himself in three different ways (Father, Son and Spirit). b. Tritheism - this teaching denies the unity of God and holds to three distinct God’s. 3. What is the Trinity? a. The doctrine of the Trinity is not a a truth of natural theology, but of revelation. b. Though the term “trinity” does not occur in the Bible, it is obviously taught and it had very early usage in the church. c. Trinity means three in one; and we may define the doctrine of the Trinity as: God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, yet he is one God. i. The Athanasian Creed expresses the Trinity in this way: “We worship one God in the trinity, and the trinity in unity; we distinguish among the persons, but we do not divide the substance.” 4. Are there any good analogies for the Trinity? a. No. All of our analogies have short comings and are misleading. i. God is not like an egg; and he is not like water. He is God and there is nothing like him. Remember God is incomprehensible. ii. Just because the Trinity is impossible to fathom is not reason for rejecting it. We should accept what God has revealed about himself and worship humbly. 5. What are some passages that teach the doctrine of the Trinity? a. The Old testament: As we mentioned in an earlier study even the title Elohim (God), used frequently by God himself, speaks of plurality. i. We are told that God by his powerful word created the heavens and the earth and that the Spirit was hovering over the face of the waters. 1. Psalm 33:6-9 says, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.” a. Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” i. John the apostle identifies the “Word of God” as Jesus Christ. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ii. We find Trinity at work in the creation of man. God says, “come let “us” make man in “our” image and after “our” likeness.” - He is not speaking to the angels for the scripture expressly speaks of man being in the image of God and not the angels. iii. Sodom and Gomorrah: Genesis 19:24 “Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven.” -LORD is the proper name of God. iv. Hosea 1:7 God is speaking and he says, “But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God.” v. In Isaiah the cherubim cry out, “Holy, Holy, Holy” and Numbers 6:22-26 says, “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. “So shall they put my name (singular)upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” 1. We could do this all day. There are so many references to the Trinity it is amazing. 2. Berkhof said, “The Old Testament contains a clear anticipation of the fuller revelation of the Trinity in the New Testament. b. The New Testament: i. The Trinity is clearly seen to be at work in the incarnation. 1. Luke 1:35 “And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” ii. The Trinity is clearly seen in the ministry of Jesus. 1. Matthew 3:16-17 “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” 2. Isaiah 61 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me” iii. The Trinity is clearly seen in the work of atonement. 1. Hebrews 9:14 “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. 2. The Trinity is seen in the resurrection of Christ. a. Its attributed to the Father in Acts 2:32; it’s attributed to the Son in John 10:17-18; and It’s attributed to the Spirit in Romans 1:4. 3. The Trinity is seen in the work of Salvation. a. 1 Peter1:2 “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood” 4. The Trinity is seen to indwell the believer. a. John 14:15-23 says, that the believer is in-dwelt with the Spirit, the Father and the Son. 5. Each Person of the Trinity is expressly called “God” by the scripture and is attributed with possessing the divine attributes. 6. What are some practical implications of the Trinity? Or what is at stake if we deny the Trinity? a. The doctrine of the Trinity makes definitive revelation of God possible as he is known in Jesus Christ. i. John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” ii. The scripture says that no man can see God and live (Ex 33:20; 1 Tim 6:16) iii. It is God the Son who provided an actual manifestation of God in the flesh. b. The Trinity makes the Atonement possible. The redemption of man is accomplished through the distinct and unified activity of each person of the Godhead. i. Heb 9:14 “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” c. Because God is triune, he has eternally been personal and relational in his own being in full independence from his creation. i. If there is no Trinity, then there were no interpersonal relationships within the being of God before creation, and, without personal relationships it is difficult to see how God could be genuinely personal or be without the need for a creation to relate to. d. The doctrine of God as triune allows for love to flow eternally among the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. i. Apart from the doctrine of the Trinity the idea of God being love is an impossibility. Love must have an object. 1. As Francis Shaeffer said, “If God were not a Trinity He could not be love, and I would still be an agnostic”. e. The Trinity provides the ultimate model for relationships within the body of Christ and marriage. i. Each member of the Trinity eternally gives them self in mutual love to one another. Conclusion: “We must ask, Do I fight merely for doctrinal faithfulness? This is like the wife who never sleeps with anybody else but never shows love to her own husband. Is that a sufficient relationship in marriage? No, ten thousand times no. Yet if I am a christian who speaks and acts for doctrinal faithfulness but do not show love to my divine bridegroom, I am in the same place as such a wife. What God wants from us is not only doctrinal faithfulness, but our love day by day. Not in theory, mind you, but in practice. Those of us who are children of God must realize the seriousness of modern apostasy; we must urge each other not to have any part in it. But at the same time we must be the loving, true bride of the divine bridegroom in reality and in practice, day by day, in the midst of the spiritual adultery of our day. Our call is first to be the bride faithful, but that is not the total call. The call is not only to be the bride faithful, but also to be the bride in love.” - Francis Shaeffer